Community antenna television (“CATV”) networks have been used for more then four decades to deliver television programming to a large number of subscribers. Increasingly, CATV networks are used by providers to provide data services to subscribers. For example, cable modems used in a broadband cable modem termination system (“CMTS”) compete with digital subscriber lines (“DSL”) and DSL modems used therein, which are typically implemented and supported by telephone companies. DSL service is typically provided over the same wires as a residence's telephone service.
A service provider that delivers content, for example, multimedia content such as video content programs, over a DSL network typically delivers the content, which comprises multiple packets of information in one or more streams, according to a multicast address. The multicast address is typically an Internet Protocol multicast address. Thus, from a DSL central office to a subscriber device at a display device, such as a television, requested content packets, and only requested content packets, are delivered according to the multicast protocol.
Service providers that deliver video content over a hybrid fiber coaxial cable network (“HFC”), such as cable television service providers, typically deliver content streams as MPEG digital data streams, or even still as analog program signals. Thus, all content that a cable provider makes available to a subscriber is delivered to each subscriber, even all of the programs that are not currently being received, or viewed. This ‘all-content’ approach has been used for years, and thus is referred to as ‘legacy’, and is reliable. However, much bandwidth over the HFC is wasted using a legacy delivery system because the downstream QAM channels are used to deliver most, if not all, of the available content streams, or signals, to a given user although he or she typically only uses, or watches, one program at a time.
Cable operators have the option of converting their head end system equipment and customer premises equipment to deliver and receive video content according to IP multicast. However, the cost to convert edge QAM devices and customer premises devices to deliver content from a video head end according to IP multicast would be expensive if done all at once. In addition, many operators want to avoid alienating customers that may still wish to receive analog television signals or legacy MPEG television signals with an existing legacy set top box.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and system for facilitating the integration of delivery of multimedia content, namely video content, according to multicast addressing while still facilitating the delivery of content using legacy equipment over the same HFC.
In addition, there is a need in the art for a method and system for converting content received over legacy channels QAM for delivery from a single customer premises device to an IP television (“IP TV”) set top box.